Here's a letter God led me to write a few years ago to our spiritual family. Hope these words bless you and yours. Enjoy celebrating Jesus.

Dear Mothers and Fathers and Brothers and Sisters,

I send you greetings of peace and love from the rest of the family. They, like I, am always with you and never leave or forsake you. The angels and the rest of us want you to know how precious you are to us.

When I agreed to give up my divinity and be born in the flesh, I did so very willingly. I looked forward to the time when we, you and us, could all be together and share in everything that is. I looked forward to loving you, hugging you, comforting you and encouraging you so that, when your life gets tough, you will feel secure and supported enough to face whatever you have to face. I looked forward to being the one you could rely on unconditionally for that strength, comfort and encouragement whenever and however you need it.

Not only that, I looked forward to sharing with you that we created you to love you, and that we so hoped and desired that you would love us back. We want you in our life, and we love it when you want us in yours. It was so exciting when I could turn to My disciples and expand our relationship to include friendship and true fellowship. I offer that friendship to you as well, and I look forward to your inviting Me into your life in that way.

You can see there are many reasons why I came in the flesh so many years ago. There’s more! I also wanted to set you free from thoughts and behaviors that hurt you emotionally and spiritually. If you were hurt by people or experienced tough times in your life and lost things like health, relationships or your way of life because of disaster or unemployment, I wanted to give you the tips and tools as well as the encouragement to recover emotionally and spiritually from who or what hurt you so you can have the kind of life I want you to enjoy.

Most of you understand why I sacrificed my life for you and what an act of love that was. It is my hope that this letter will help you understand how very much more My life and ministry were to accomplish. I look forward to growing and expanding our relationship now and forever.

I was in worship services when I literally felt a jolt pass through my body. If you've read Kathryn Kuhlman's excellent books, you know that some who were healed during her meetings reported a similar sensation. That's never happened to me before like that, and I knew God was doing something, but I didn't immediately know what. I live with chronic illness and disability, so I was curious to find out just what God healed. When I got home, for the first time in years, I heard my husband clearly while he spoke from another room. That would have been impossible for me to do with the 60 decibel loss I had. I also heard sounds that were unfamiliar in the house and asked my husband for help to identify them. Over the course of the next 24 hours, we tested my ability to hear and found a great improvement in my hearing. I've spent the last week adjusting to this new level, and on Sunday I was able to hear the entire sermon with little difficulty when before I got parts of sentences but couldn't follow the entire thoughts. My balance,which is affected by my hearing loss, improved so much that I could stand during the entire time of praise and worship last Sunday. This also had been impossible for me to do before. I only know gratitude to the God who heals. How about you? Your experiences?

It took me years to realize what God's greatest miracle actually is. Looking at the beginning of my relationship with Him gave me clues that probably ring true to some of you.

Before God called me, my mind was so very hostile towards Him and everything about Him. I was heavily involved in the pursuit of wealth, prestige and power. Spiritually, I was involved in the occult and dabbled in witchcraft. Suddenly, one day, my perspective changed completely. Without understanding, I suddenly had a great hunger for God and a desire to learn about Him and His way of life. God changed me (equipped me) so that I could respond to His call.

My father in law is facing the end of his life. He has prostate cancer that has spread to his spine and also has aneurysms, one located in the stomach and the other behind a knee, that are literally time bombs. Because of his age (91), the doctors are reluctant to operate and say that he will not survive an operation.

My mother in law died last September, and the family agrees that it was a blessing because she was trapped in a body that didn't work right, and neither did her mind have the clarity it once did, since she was afflicted with dementia. After her death, my father in law grew closer to God. A few months passed, and he reverted to his former arm's length relationship. Until recently.

Currently, my father in law has caused us to rejoice because he has surrendered his life into Jesus' hands. Pastor G and I pray that remains permanent for however much time God grants him with us.

I am convinced that crisis Christianity has to do with us coming to the end of ourselves, the end of our capacity. It is then that we deeply realize that when we are not able, God is.

How about you? Are you a crisis Christian or is your relationship with God consistently close? Your thoughts and experiences?

Pastor G and I (and Steve the Dog!) pray that you celebrate Jesus' birthand all that it means to us who follow Him and live His way of life and love. May your travel be safe and may your time with family and friends be a joyful, memorable time.

Have you ever wondered how it is that there's a before and after in your life? That is, a before being a Christian and after being a Christian? Have you ever wondered what makes the difference in you personally?

Think about it: I don't know about you, but before God called me, I was downright hostile towards Him. I was heavily involved in the occult and some witchcraft and worshipped money and was focused on building my career and personal fortune. I remember fullwell those days of working 12-18 hour days and listening to the car radio in between appointments. One of my favorite shows was about money and investing, and I looked forward to my daily "dose". One day that show was preempted by a broadcast from the founder of a fellowship I was later to belong to. I am embarrassed to even think about the rude, disrespectful language that escaped my lips day after day. Somehow, I didn't turn the dial but I didn't listen, either. I just vented, and boy, did I vent! One day, I started hearing what the guy had to say and began to be intrigued. Now, I look back and wonder about the change. Why did I begin to listen when just days before I had been furiously hostile?

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about God's process. How does He do what He does? I know now that scripture says that no one can come to Jesus unless the Father calls him. Why is there such a gap and how is it filled? What makes the difference between seeking God and being hostile to Him?

I know the members of the Godhead have agreed roles. One of the roles of God the Holy Spirit is to oversee the initial salvation process and then guide the believer on his or her spiritual journey. It must be He, God the Holy Spirit, who miraculously changes a mind from that hostility to curiosity that leads to choosing to follow Jesus and live His way of life and love from that moment on. All I can think of is that everyone is on satan's wavelength and subject to his influence. He is hostile towards God and encourages that in us even when we are unaware of his doing so. In the same way, God the Holy Spirit must somehow override satan and his influence to transform that hostility to curiosity and then that deep hunger to read, actually devour, scripture and connect with God. What a change!

That's what I mean by God's personal miracle. For each of us who are His, God worked to change, to transform our minds to seek Him and Him alone. When I began to listen to that broadcast, I had a deep knowing that the man spoke spiritual truth, and I wanted with a passion akin to the prior resistance shared above to know more about that truth and this bible he referred to. That was God the Holy Spirit convicting me.

God has since blessed me to be part of many spiritual birth processes and to welcome baby brothers and sisters in Christ into His family. Each person has a testimony about resisting God and then surrendering every area of their lives to Him. I look forward to hearing how God worked in your life to perform your personal miracle. Thanks for sharing.

Jesus prayed, "Father forgive them, they know not what they do". I find that humbling because it means that Jesus understood that I really didn't know what I was doing when I wasn't His and scoffing at His way of life and love. He loved me anyway in spite of what I now see as a truly lousy attitude. It was my attitude that was responsible for His dying on that cross, and it was my sins that made it necessary for Him to do so. It is a debt of genuine spiritual love that I can never repay.

Sometimes we all get weary in well-doing, and it helps to know that our labor of spiritual love does indeed make a difference. I know what it's like to plod on daily, basically saying the same thing to the myriads of people God sends across my path. Then, once in a while, someone tells me that what God has said or done through me makes a difference in their lives. Like today. I have been counseling a young woman of Muslim heritage who desires to follow Jesus and live His way of life and love. Today I asked her if she is ready to ask Jesus into her life as both Lord and Savior, and she said , "Yes!" She hasn't yet sent me the return email that she prayed the sinner's prayer that I sent her, but I look forward to welcoming another spiritual family member with open arms!

So, take heart. Know that your labor of spiritual love is not in vain. You never know how you can make a difference in somene's life.

Those of us who are God's know He heals. We all know He promises to heal. The question is "when?" The answer is "according to His will and timing." Sometimes, it's immediate and complete, sometimes it's delayed and partial, and sometimes it won't happen until after Jesus returns.

God has encouraged me by dramatically and profoundly healing me spiritually so that I can follow Jesus and live His way of life. I was heavily involved in the occult, witchcraft and other spiritual no no's, so I needed much cleansing and healing. The miracle is that He uses me now to encourage others that God can do for them what He did for me.

God has also miraculously healed me at least twice that I know of. These were times when medical science had reached the end of their capacity, and doctors didn't think I would live. You can see that I'm still here to bug you. Yes, I still live with chronic illness and disability, but God continues to intervene. My thyroid hasn't worked right for years, and I recently had a crisis so bad that it swelled and affected my ability to breathe and swallow. God is working. The swelling has disappeared, and I can now suck in air and enjoy food. In this case He led me to a natural supplement that's literally done wonders. Would He have healed me without my taking it? Maybe. But my body is receiving and processing compounds that it lacked before. I am so grateful. God is so good!

Now I have a question for you. How has God healed you? I look forward to your sharing. You never know how God can use your words to encourage others.